A new recording has just appeared of the chamber music of the French
composer, Charles Tournemire (1870-1939); INA memoire Vive 262006,
distributed by Qualiton. The pieces on the disc are: Poeme
Mystique, op. 34 for solo piano; Sagesse, op. 35 for tenor & piano;
Sonate-Poeme, op. 65 for violin & piano; and Musique Orante, op.
61 for string quartet. The CD is of ample length (more than 76
minutes), and the price at the local Tower was a modest $12.99.
Along with this disc, there were several new appearances on this
label, which represents a concerted effort to make Radio France
archival recordings available to the general public. These recordings
were made in 1972 & 73, and the quality is excellent. No doubt,
other interesting releases are on their way.
Tournemire is certainly best known for his organ music -- both as
one of the great improvisors of this century, and as a prolific
composer for the instrument. His massive tome, L'Orgue Mystique
(op. 55, 56, 57) -- a cycle of pieces for the entire Catholic
liturgical year, taking Tournemire more than five years to write
(1927-32) -- is one of the largest legacies in Western music,
unequalled in both functionality and depth. However, Tournemire
composed in many forms: organ, piano, chamber, symphonies, oratorios,
songs. His earlier works are varied in genre, followed by a period
of several years concentrating on the eight symphonies, then five
years on L'Orgue Mystique, and finally the closing years of his
life, spent on impressive examples in many forms -- not least of
these, chamber music.
His intellectual & expressive late organ music has made his name
with many listeners. The 7 Chorale-Poemes, op. 67 are already
available on at least three recordings. However, this is the first
disc to give us a chance to hear Tournemire's only late chamber
pieces, the Sonate-Poeme & Musique Orante. And this is a genre of
special interest, since he was professor of chamber music at the
Paris Conservatory, as well as being organist at Sainte-Clotilde.
As such, this recording is especially valuable, and is even more
so due to the presence of Tournemire's pupil, Henriette Puig-Roget,
on the piano. These impressive performances also feature violinist
Devy Erlih in the Sonate-Poeme; Bernard Plantey (tenor) & the
Quatour de l'O.R.T.F. round out the cast. An extended interview
with Ms. Puig-Roget is also a fascinating look at the composer.
Tournemire was a pupil of Franck, and his earliest works certainly
show this influence directly. He was also highly influenced by
the sonorities of Debussy, and these two precedents are combined
directly and effectively in the Poeme Mystique -- probably Tournemire's
most highly regarded early work. This is a quiet piece of cyclic
forms and delicate sonorities, effective and direct. No doubt it
was something of a synthesis for the young composer, and indeed
the opening movement is entitled "Paraphrase," a form which would
continue to find its way into his output as late as L'Orgue Mystique.
The song cycle, Sagesse is a contemporaneous work, based on poems
of Verlaine.
Tournemire continued to explore expanded modality, later incorporating
ideas he found in Indian music. This was an obvious precedent for
Messiaen, and has been acknowledged as such. Listening to each of
their organ cycles from the 30s, the debt is obvious -- as is the
answer to the question of whose style was most polished. Working
on his eight symphonies, followed by five years of L'Orgue Mystique,
was obviously a time of intense personal growth for Tournemire.
By the last years of his life, Franck's influence is increasingly
difficult to perceive, and Tournemire's personal style is fully
evident in all its richness. Above all, this is marked by an equal
mastery of both line and form. The symphonies brought the influence
of Wagner & Mahler (explicitly noted in the scores), and the late
chamber works have an almost Reger-ian tonal density -- yet, combined
with Tournemire's fluid grace. Both works deserve to be much better
known.
Hopefully this recording will establish another step toward
recognizing Tournemire as one of the most important composers of
the early 20th century -- recognition which has been slow in coming
only because of the disruption of World War II immediately after
his death.
T. M. McComb
late 1993